Place your vote in the poll. If you have time, type up some feedback while you listen to the beats, both positive and negative, and leave comments in the thread below.

Because of recent voting issues, the winner should claim victory in the thread at 1200 MIDNIGHT tonight, US Eastern Standard Time. Google "world clock" and check what time it is in New York City or Atlanta and you've got EST.

Thanks to everyone for submitting and welcome to the newcomers, amazing work!

well, since i have a few hours until i can do anything today, let me pull a subbass on everyone!

t!llman- yours sounded like the default drums in fruity loops and that really turned me off. decent chops, just nto feeling it at all

uncle remus-really feeling it! looved the sax

tkurata-i think you did a good job cutting up the samples but i didnt really like the vibe of the beat. i mean, i respect it for what it is but its just not for me.

cralias-your beat was just too all over the place for me. nice use of the dilla kit

subbass-i really liked the bass and the saxophone(?) and the vocal samples. pretty solid beat, a lot of repetition though.

areou-really good vocal samples and that break is superb. loved the drums, for sure.

deezsteez-nice job matching up the acapella and i liked the use of wigmaster's sample. that track was insane so props for working it in.

wigmaster-man ive read you saying like 'break out of the grid' as in do more abstract stuff with these beats, and thats exactly what you do, and its really refreshing. sometimes it goes a little overboard, and it almost is on this track, but the drums bring it all back. i liked it a lot.

sugoi-decent drums, good vocal chops. it could be improved but it was a good first attempt at the beat battles! i dug it.

i vote for sugoisounds even though the drums sounded like they were coming out of clock radio speakers, nothing wrong with the drum patteren itself the whole tune just sounded like it needed a healthy dose of bass and beefing up in general

t!llman: Slumberfreak has a good funky feel...nice stuff...well put together...Might wanna dig for a crunchier snare sound to help your future stuff though...As for Token of Filth...the kick is holding you back...it's got a bit too much of an electro or house kick sound to it...this beat'd probably be pretty dope if you switch it out with something a little more muffled...nice progressions though...really feelin this one with some other drums...

Uncle Remus: What else can I say...this is a DOPE beat...what you did with the bassline is what grabs me the most...amazing work...must have spent some real time gettin it all to vibe like that...then the sax just makes it...it's dopeness...no doubt about it.

TKurata: Got a cool old-school-meets-new-school feel...a little choppy in some spots, but I know that's your style and it was intentional...like the breakdown...MC Jon Wayne's flow fits the feel of the beat pretty well...just funky...really dig this track...

cralias: Always able to weird it up arent ya? lol...like some Aphex Twin type shit there...cool in it's own funky way though...I could see cats breakin' to this...not sure about the switch up after the comedian introduction sample...

SubBass49: Track was definitely influenced by all the El-P I've been listening to lately...also influenced by an emcee that wanted me to create a track for him that "sounds like a cheap stereo turned up way too loud." I think I pulled it off. I actually really like this beat because it's something different from what I normally do...and it's the first time I incorporated bits from BOTH sample tracks. But hit me up with your feedback too...I like gettin critiques.

Areou: Haha...nice intro sample...decent track so far...not a bit flanger fan really...but it works for what you did on the track...the little breakdown with the groovy sample was cool...also like how ya used the "woooahhh yeah" samples...not feelin the synth line ya laid over it towards the end though...still a decent track though...

DeezSteez: Cool start...nice breaks...once Jon Waynes verse kicks in I like it a bit better...pretty funky stuff...kinda reminds me of some experimental anticon type shit...which is a compliment...I like that stuff sometimes...

The Wig Master: Always quality...though this is a little rambling sounding...kept waiting for the beat to really kick in and it never really did...

sugoisounds: Nice stuff so far...the kick is a little high-pitched for my tastes...like what ya did with the "push!" sample...kinda drones on...but it's quality stuff for sure...

Nice work everyone, but uncle remus' beat was in my opinion the nicest..!! I don't know what it is but there is something about it that just feels so good -- though I thought it sounded more like a trombone than a sax, no..??

--

t!llman- yours sounded like the default drums in fruity loops and that really turned me off. decent chops, just nto feeling it at all

I would love to disagree with you but I can't -- I normally am not too happy with my drums/drum sounds..anyone have any suggestions on how to acheive a better drum sound..?? is it using certain/specific sounds or sound packs -- or is the trick adding effects/accents/time swings to give them a little more life -- thoughts/suggestions on sampling drum hits from the actual song vs. using sound packs..??

anyway, thanks to all who listened and to anyone who dropped a comment -- I am not here for votes but for feedback, suggestions and ideas to help improve my craft..

I would love to disagree with you but I can't -- I normally am not too happy with my drums/drum sounds..anyone have any suggestions on how to acheive a better drum sound..?? is it using certain/specific sounds or sound packs --

this is another whole subject but in short just sample some drums from records/cd's whateva the fuck just leave them sample packs alone they are usually shite

I would love to disagree with you but I can't -- I normally am not too happy with my drums/drum sounds..anyone have any suggestions on how to acheive a better drum sound..?? is it using certain/specific sounds or sound packs -- or is the trick adding effects/accents/time swings to give them a little more life -- thoughts/suggestions on sampling drum hits from the actual song vs. using sound packs..??

Best bet is to start really listening to songs and listening for those rare occassions when you get an isolated drum sound.

If you have the ability to sample from vinyl, I've found that it's easy to find good snares, toms, and hats on vinyl...havent had as much luck with kicks though. When I get a new record, what I'll do (if I have the time) is sit down and search the whole record for drums and individual instruments...then I save 'em as wav files in a folder named for that record. Then I know that the sounds in that folder will work well together on future tracks.

Another thing you can try is layering your kicks and snares. Use multiple kicks and snares on the same track and adjust their volume/EQ until you get a sound that fits the track well.

deezsteez: i like how you used the drums and the 'push', and the vocals fit pretty nicely..

areou: nice bouncey, party-feel to it...might be sounding a little weak, the levels that is..turn it up?

subbass: not a big fan of the rapid hi-hats and the "style" of the beat, but the sampling is pretty dope..

cralias: pretty cool shit, i might feel a little prefuse 73-ish from it..could use some beef, just like areou and sugoisounds..

tkurata: i love the use of the drums, and the saxophone+keys! the vocals put me off a little though, they're not completely wrong, but it feels like a very difficult beat to put an acapella over..maybe mr.cookie should record something else over it?

uncle remus: i already said it, killer beat man...great swing and nice chopping...if i had one complaint it would be that i wish i had more of the part with the funky bass followed by the "aaaah" the part with the sax/trumpet or what it is now gets a little repetitive..

t!llman: what the others said about the drums, that snare can be used in a good way, but preferrably with other stuff that fits it better..

now this is one tough showdown between tkurata and uncle remus for me...but i guess i'll have to even the score a little by voting for tkurata, the beat has a real live feel to it! good job!

now i'm gonna try and fit a cookiepella to a beat or two..wish me luck :/

okay i'm gonna go through and review all the beats as i listen. first of all, let me say where i'm coming from: i'm really not well versed in hip hop, i've only been listening for about a year and so most of what i have to say is from the perspective of a jazz musician... as in, i'm generally going to go for the more organic, melodic, grooving, soulful sounding stuff. that's just what i listen for. if i diss your beat, you'll find solace in the fact that i haven't even started checking out madlib yet, so wtf do i know?

t!llman - slumber freak is nice. i like the percussion you added, but the snare is a little weak or doesn't seem to fit the sample, i don't know. overall it's a classy arrangement of the loops available in the sample, but you could have gotten a little more creative with the chops. as for token of filth, i agree with others that the bass drum is a little too house... with a grittier kick, you could improve the overall vibe of this beat. another thing that could work well with this one is to add a little more sloppiness in the drums. but good job selecting and tying together nice melodies from what i found to be a really challenging sample track.

TKurata - i am really feeling the opening section of this beat. sick use of the trombone, it's all grit and funk warfare. in my opinion it gets a little too busy with the vocal chops before the a cappella is mixed in, like that "stop pushing" "nowww" bit... it feels a little disjointed, but it doesn't spoil the beat for me. overall really nice.

cralias - the first part is cool to listen to, kinda creepy... theme music for a casino staffed by homicidal clowns? it's out there, i dunno. to be honest, though, i find it hard to imagine somebody spitting over that. but maybe that's not what you're going for. the second part, on the other hand, i like a lot. but it's just one loop with no variation and then it ends abruptly. clearly you're coming from the more experimental side of things, and as i said above, that's not where i'm coming from, so there you have it.

SubBass49 - dark. atonal elements. distortion. heavy kick. tweaky hi hats. this is the kind of shit that bobo the homicidal clown (unloved at birth) is bumping as he gets pumped up to slip the shiv to grandma at the slots. i like it, and even though it's not at all my style, i think it's one of the strongest entries this week. good job.

Areou - i'm digging your drum patterns a lot. tight and super funky, but i think the kick deserves to thump a little more. you overuse random talking samples, for my taste. also, i got tired of that panning melodic sample. i'm not saying it wasn't effective, but i wish you had switched it up more. the synth melody that comes in the end didn't seem to fit very well with the rest of the track.

DeezSteez - props for flipping bee's knees into Deez Steez. that's technique. i also like your drum pattern, and everything is poppin in the mix. you used the samples really effectively, so it's not too busy, and it all holds together well. solid.

The Wig Master - it's really sparse, but i gather that's your style. i really like the vibe with the drums, it's got that lurching thing that just feels so raw and real, like quantize is not in your vocabulary. with some of the push push samples, though, you can still hear the original drums in them and it's a bit disorienting; at times it drew me out of the vibe you had going with your drums. you could have gotten around that by making smaller chops of the same material and imposing your own rhythm to vibe better with the rest of the track. another thing that i found distracting: the bass is a bit flat with respect to the tuning of the push push samples. it's actually push push that was sharp. i used both sample tracks in my beat and i had to take push push down about 25 cents to match odeon. anyway, those are small things, and i'm really feeling your beat overall. so chill. why don't you make them longer? i could listen to that ish all afternoon.

sugoisounds - i had to go back and listen to push push to see how you flipped the vocal, and i'm still not sure. sounds like he's saying "they won't cry" or something. anyway, nicely done with that. and very good job with the chopping and construction of the beat in general. the drums are solid... i'm a sucker for that east coast swing, as you can tell from my beat. your hi hat is kind of tinny, though. overall, this is hot, just straight up boom bap funky stuff.

oops... somehow i posted that by accident. so as i was saying, it's between Wig for creativity, Sub for impressing me despite my prejudice against the style, and sugoisounds for making me nod my head the most. i guess i'll go with sugoi, since the other guys won last week.

i actually used a default kick and hat the other day that i really liked. DONT FEEL GUILTY, T!LL. haha.

ha ha - nah it's all good. like I said, it's why I am here. I have been in bands and have had friends in bands for probably 15 years now and have both given and received the obligatory, "yeah man, that was good" when it really wasn't -- that doesn't really help anyone..

SubBass49 - dark. atonal elements. distortion. heavy kick. tweaky hi hats. this is the kind of shit that bobo the homicidal clown (unloved at birth) is bumping as he gets pumped up to slip the shiv to grandma at the slots. i like it, and even though it's not at all my style, i think it's one of the strongest entries this week. good job.

Uncle Remus - **my pick for the week** - I just love the vibe of this beat, I am not really sure what else to say about it. It just sounds so fresh and I can think of too many emcees that I want to hear spitting over this..!! I just wish the MySpace player didn't make things sound so muddy, I would love to hear this at a crisper quality..!! I am definitely looking forward to hearing some more stuff, looks like you may be picking the next song so pick yourself another winner..!!

TKurata - Great sound on this beat, everything is perfectly loud and clear..!! How did I miss this trombone..?? ha ha..!! I love the "riffs" (is that the right term for a trombone..??) that you're sampling there -- and I definitely like how the acapella works over the trombone part. I also really like how this one teeters between keeping the vibe of the original sample and creating its own feel. Great work on this one, definitely like this one a lot..!!

cralias - sorry, just not really my cup of tea -- now that's not to say that I think you did a bad job, as a matter of fact everything sounds really good and it's definitely well constructed (though I agree with Remus about ending abruptly), but I am definitely not your target audience for this one.

SubBass49 - This is a pretty nice beat, though I have to admit that I generally prefer those that retain the feel of the original source and this is definitely doesn't sound much like either source. That said I think you've successfully captured that mesh of old Boom-Bap and new "mechanized" type El-P feel on this one. The bass line is pretty bad-ass, I like how you sprinkle in the guitar noodling from "Odeon", and I like how you use that chant of "Push" -- it's always cool to hear the little things go a long way..!!

Areou - Guh-roovy..!! Goddamn, I love your drums on this..!! This one strikes me in a pretty similar way as Uncle Remus', it just feels good. I love how you chopped and used the guitar part throughout the song, it just carries so much melody and you did a great job of using it..!! I hate to say it but I am not really digging that part that comes in at the 1:43 mark (if for no other reason that it kinda overpowers and conflicts with the key of the guitar parts) -- for what it's worth if it weren't for Uncle Remus this would probably have got my vote..

DeezSteez - Nasty..!! This begs me to nod my head from start to finish..!! I love the simplicity of it -- it doesn't need a million parts to bump..!! Love the loop, love the variations, love how it fits the acapella -- maybe wouldn't be as strong without the verse, but again there's nothing wrong with that -- pure quality here..!!

The Wig Master - ok, ok - I know I said that I generally prefer it when the beat retains the feel of the source but this is too nice..!! Sometimes I wonder how people's musical minds work when I listen to their shit, and I don't know if I could ever figure out how you came to this from the original(s) (did you use your song on this, or just "Push, Push"..??). Do you hear these beats as you listen to the original music or do you already have an idea for the beat in your head and bring it to life with the sources..?? Well, no matter how you do it keep doing it..!!

sugoisounds - Wow, "Push, Push" sounds great pitched down. Again - great work with the sounds, another entry that just sounds so loud and clear. LOVE how you chopped the vocal sample, simply sounds beautiful. Great loop, great vibe, nice effects (delay pretty much always sounds great..!!). If I do have a complaint is that it doesn't really veer, it just stays the course...but overall I really like it..!!

--I definitely have to say that there were a lot of really great beats this week, listening back for the written reviews made me realize just how many potential winners there were to pick from. In the end though my gut reaction to Uncle Remus' beat was too strong to deny. Good work to all and an extra special thanks once again to those who took the time to drop a word, sentence or paragraph to those who posted their work..!!

initially, my vote was for Uncle Remus. Now, why the fuck some white dude would name himself after a racist character that infantiled elderly black men is suspect, but that's neither here nor there. His beat was decent...but I think it lacked character. the beat was too contrived than the winner's (who is mentioned later) in my opinion..

Thewigmaster's vibe fondler sounded the most relevant...it had that "dilla" vibe with the studdering hi-hats and bass stabs....either that or the sample was offbeat. very good.

Subbass's made my head nod. and that's what hip hop is all about. not the critical analysis of music, nor the idea of a classically trained, jazz-piccolo player's foray into hip hop. it always comes down to the 808 kick drum....making girlies git dumb...

Subbass's made my head nod. and that's what hip hop is all about. not the critical analysis of music, nor the idea of a classically trained, jazz-piccolo player's foray into hip hop. it always comes down to the 808 kick drum....making girlies git dumb...

initially, my vote was for Uncle Remus. Now, why the fuck some white dude would name himself after a racist character that infantiled elderly black men is suspect, but that's neither here nor there.

well. uncle remus is a racist caricature created by some white dude named harris who spent some time on a plantation and ended up publishing, as his own work, a collection of folktales from the african-american oral tradition. in turn, i'm some white dude named wasserman who, in his foray into hip hop, is appropriating an african-american idiom to express himself. this white dude is keenly aware of that fact, and also likes a bit of irony, so that, chill'un, is how the leopard got his spots...

anyway, this is just a message board username. if i ever sell any beats, though, i'll be sure to stay away from the racially charged monikers.

EDIT: i'd be interested in your advice, too... how could i add character to my beat or make it sound less contrived? i'm here to learn.

i'll wait until midnight to start the new beat battle thread, but thanks to everybody for the warm welcome and the feedback. i've got a couple ideas for next week's sample. probably gonna throw some jazz atcha, but i haven't decided.